The Weeping Roses
by TheBlueBomberBoomer
Summary: After buttercup and butch accidently wind up meeting in a forest, they find themselves stuck as partners in some form of competition. Though they soon find out the forest has its own dark secrets behind it, now the two find themselves trying to survive every night while trying to unveil its dark secrets. Will they survive?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Party Treasure?

It was a normal night in the city of Townsville. The sky was clear and the stars and moon were shining brightly. At eight o'clock, the day felt like it had gone on forever. Inside one house in particular, the sound of multiple chemicals bubbling could be heard echoing from the basement. Inside of it was a man in a white lab coat who was working on in his laboratory which was his basement. The room seemed made of metal for safety reasons. A young seven year old was standing nearby, with black hair and in a green shirt with an over the shoulder black stripe pattern, and black pants. "Professor, why do I have to help you in the lab again?" she questioned her and her sisters' practical father. "Because, Buttercup, I needed help today. Bubbles is too afraid of messing up, and Blossom… well, last time I let her help, my test flower came to life and bit my finger," the professor chuckled at the memory, remembering all of his bad lab experiments.

Buttercup just let out an irritated huff before he pointed to a table that had a green, yellow and purple chemical surrounding a big glass test tube. "Could you mix those for me?" the professor asked. She nodded, floating over to it. "Um… which one first?" she wondered the order to put the chemicals in. "Hm? Oh, any order is fine," he claimed. Buttercup went and poured the mixtures in at a random order. Usually whenever he had no order for mixing them, it meant they were safe. Once she finished pouring them in she watched them all begin to turn grey, which made her raise an eyebrow.

"What did I just make?" she asked confusedly without a clue. The professor came over and looked it over. "Hmm… I'll test it later. By the way, Buttercup, I got invited to a gathering. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?" he asked while locking the black liquid away in a steel cabinet. Buttercup thought it over for a second. She knew gatherings were just code word for nerd parties, at least in her eyes, but she knew how much fun these were to him and one of her sisters. "Are bubbles and blossom going?" Buttercup replied. "Of course they are. You girls are going to have to fly there, however. I have to run a ton of errands beforehand from early in the morning," he explained. She just sighed and rolled her eyes, not really into dressing up so much like her sisters enjoyed it.

The professor wrote down the address on a piece of paper and handed it to her. The address read 709 Lenbork Road. Buttercup paid it no second thought before pocketing it. "Now go get ready for bed. I want you all to be rested for tomorrow," he told her. "Alright. Goodnight, professor," Buttercup bid him goodnight before going upstairs, knowing that there was a slight chance that the party tomorrow might not be any fun.

While going upstairs, Buttercup could see two other rooms that were before hers. She remembered when the professor had two other rooms made to give them more space, since they had been sharing a room for a long time until a few months ago. She saw someone else the same age as her, approaching her in the hall. It was a long orange haired girl with a red ribbon in her hair and a pink dress that had a black stripe on it. "Hey, Buttercup. Are you excited for this party?" she asked her sibling. They were two of a trio of girls that were well known of Townsville for being the Powerpuff Girls who saved the town on many occasions. "Oh yeah, Blossom. I'm really looking forward to a bunch of dorks chatting while I sit around doing practically nothing," Buttercup claimed sarcastically.

"Now you know as well as I do that the other scientists will bring their children too. I'm sure it won't be that boring!" Blossom reassured, though her support was not really listened too well since the black haired girl didn't hold out much hope for that. "Where's Bubbles anyway?" Buttercup tried to change the subject. "Already asleep. I'm going to go finish my homework," she claimed while continuing past her. "You know we don't have to turn it in til Monday, right?" she called out in question since it was Friday. Her brainy sister was simply put considered the leader of the group.

"The sooner it's out of the way, the better," Blossom called out before going to her room and closing the door behind her. Buttercup just shrugged while heading straight to bed, not really caring for her own homework, just resting the piece of paper that had the address on it on her nightstand. Her room had a bed with a green blanket on it, and a skateboard rested in the corner beside the closet with a dresser near the bed.

Neighbouring Townsville was another big city that went by the name Citiesville. The town was bright at night, and people seemed just as active in the daytime as they did at night. In an upstairs apartment, one boy was standing outside, just looking at the slight view of Citiesville from the second floor. He was wearing a green coat that had a star on the back of it, and a pair of headphones on top of his black spiky hair. He was mainly staring at the lights and listening to music out of sheer boredom, letting out a sigh of depression. "I miss when we used to actually have fun…" he mumbled. He then heard a creaking sound of the door behind him, seeing a blonde haired boy in a blue shirt step outside behind him.

"Hey, Butch. Dinners ready," his sibling claimed, though upon getting beside him, he could see the all too familiar face. "Oh, not again, dude. You really have to stop listening to that music," he told Butch, pulling his headphones off, the music that was a strangely calm techno tune still coming out of the speakers. "Sorry, Boomer. I just miss our old selves," Butch responded. "Seriously, that music makes you think too much. I hate it as much as you do, but Brick went over this with us. We can't keep robbing and wrecking things and causing crime for fun. It's just too much effort and too much pain. You know, like that one time blossom broke his leg?" Boomer laughed at the memories. They were two notorious members of a gang that was known as the Rowdyruff Boys. Back then they were the opposite of Powerpuff Girls, rude and with a lust for crime, but that all changed eventually after the beatings and reality set in. "Heh… yeah… that was funny," he mumbled in response, rubbing his head while letting his headphones dangle around his neck.

"Well, if you really want to do something… me and Brick were bored and looking up legends involving treasure. I heard there's an abandoned mansion outside of town where some dead man left his treasure," Boomer pulled out a slip of paper with an address written on it, making his sibling raise an eyebrow looking at it. "And you expect me to just go blindly hunting for treasure? Haha, very funny…" Butch hissed in annoyance. "Me and Brick can't go searching for it. Since you're the only one without a job, you'd get to keep allll the treasure if you find it," the blonde boy continued. His brother gave a second look to the address, reading out 'Korpnel 709 Road'.

"This address is a good sixty miles outside of town… alright, I guess… thanks, Boomer," Butch thanked him putting the address away with a smile before heading inside. Boomer followed with a grin and entered inside, closing the door behind him and looking to find the leader of their trio standing near the front door in a red hat with long orange hair and a red shirt with a black stripe on it. "Did he buy it?" Brick whispered. Boomer gave a thumb up. "Hehe, yeah. The idiot is just gonna waste time searching an empty house…" he snickered before they continued to the kitchen to eat dinner, having set up an elaborate prank for their brother.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Unwanted Meeting

It was around 1pm. Buttercup had just woken up, and she had slept in later than usual, but it wasn't that abnormal for a weekend. She rubbed her eyes tiredly before she noticed that the piece of paper with the address written on it was gone. She raised an eyebrow while getting up, making her way downstairs. She arrived to the kitchen she saw a girl in a pretty nice blue dress with yellow hair with two pigtails. "Hey, Bubbles. What are you dressed up for?" Buttercup questioned, receiving a confused glance from her sister. "The party is in thirty minutes. The professor wants us to meet him there, remember?" Bubbles responded, wondering if she even knew about it. "Oh… right" she muttered, knowing she hadn't asked the time for when the party exactly was starting.

"Hey, were you in my room earlier?" Buttercup asked, wondering what or who took the address that was written down. "Yeah, sorry, I was picking up the trash off your nightstand. Why? Did I throw out something important?" Bubbles answered her question with another, though Buttercup knew this meant that she probably threw out the written address. "N-nah, I was just curious," she reassured like nothing important got thrown out, but she was mentally praying to have remembered the address right, though she had no plans to get all dressed up for this party. She felt it wasn't worth it to her since she was probably just going to fall asleep at the party anyhow. Blossom came downstairs in a dress that looked just as good as Bubbles.

"Oh good, Buttercup you're awake. Why aren't you dressed for the party?" Blossom curiously asked. "I'm not gonna waste my time digging through my closet for a dress I hate," she simply hissed. Blossom sighed and shook her head. "You know the professor will get mad if we aren't looking our best. We're gonna go on ahead. We'll meet you there," Blossom insisted. Bubbles gave a small wave goodbye. "See you at the party," her voice called out before they flew out the door, both of them leaving a pink and blue trail behind them.

Buttercup spent the next ten minutes, thinking and trying to remember the address as she really didn't want to go digging through the trash for it. "Okay… um… it was Korpnel Road, right? …Yeah, 709…" Buttercup told herself, believing it was the right one. She knew the professor was still out and was going to meet them at the party, though she had to make a mental note about how far away the location was, but didn't want to question it. The party was going to start in twenty minutes, and there was a slight chance that she would barely make it. She just rushed outside and locked the door behind her before flying off to the sky, leaving a light green trail behind her while making her way to Citiesville since the address was outside of it.

Butch was loading a bag up with a few articles of clothing and some food and drinks. Brick and Boomer were just watching from the doorway, trying to stop themselves from bursting out into laughter since they were playing a cruel prank on their brother which made him plan on staying a few nights in this fictional story that was the abandoned mansion, hunting blindly for treasure. Butch threw the bag onto his back and approached them. "I'll see you guys Monday. Try not to light the place on fire," he told them, bidding them farewell before he walked over to his window and opened it, darting off outside into the sky, leaving a dark green trail behind him. He was gone, allowing Boomer and Brick to laugh loudly, still unable to believe this. "He's really that stupid!" the blonde haired boy tried to suppress his laughter. "Yep, but since he's gone, looks like you're making dinner again tonight," Brick reminded him. "…aw, man…" this instantly ruined Boomer's good mood. The two went off to get back to what they were meant to be doing.

Buttercup had spent an hour flying to the address she had in mind. She landed, setting her eyes on a gate that was wide open, the kind a rich person would own. She began walking up the trail that the gate led to. The path led to a huge forest. It was confusing to her, as while she walked, she began to pass by trees that had lanterns hanging on them that were lit, illuminating the darkness of the forest, as sunlight couldn't peek through the tops of the trees. "Maybe this party won't be that bad after all," she thought, knowing she would likely be berated by Blossom for not wearing her best dress when coming to the party.

After a few minutes of walking, Buttercup approached a big mansion that had hundreds of details, those that were hard to make out beyond the effort put into that place. She stared at it with wide eyes. She didn't expect the party to be thrown in such a fancy place. She then spotted a dim green light darting through where she had just been walking. "What the heck? …oh, please don't tell me…" Buttercup moaned and buried her face in her hands, mentally hoping it wasn't who she thought it was. The sound of a few footsteps crept to her. "Whoa, what are you doing here?" the voice proved her worst fears. She sighed, looking up to see Butch standing there in all of his idiotic glory. "Hey, Butch. I'm here for a party. And what are you doing here?" she forced a smile, wanting to just talk out of this and avoid a fight.

"I'm searching for treasure," Butch hummed, the same way a child would answer. Buttercup didn't know whether to laugh or try to query further into his mind. "…searching for treasure in the woods?" Buttercup reiterated. "No, I was supposed to be searching in an abandoned mansion, but I'm starting to think this one isn't so abandoned," he claimed. "What was your first clue?" she rubbed her forehead so far glad to be avoiding a fight. Normally she would love to leave a bruise on someone, but she didn't want to explain why she had injuries on her at the party.

Before the conversation could continue further, they saw the two big doors open wide, and an adult in a white suit stepped outside, catching their attention. "Are you two here to attend Sir Francis' party?" the man asked, revealing to be a butler of some sort. "Uhh…" Buttercup was a bit surprised by the sight inside. She could see a lot of people in fancy and expensive clothing with butlers waiting hand and foot on everyone. "Yes we are," Butch grinned. "Excellent. Follow me inside," the butler insisted, motioning a hand before heading inside. Buttercup glared at her male counterpart in irritation. "What do you mean WE?" she angrily whispered. "Hey, I'm not missing out on great free food," Butch simply crossed his arms in response. His stomach was thinking before his brain. They both followed the butler into the mansion, the doors closing behind them.

End of Chapter 2

**Authors note: Sorry for the filler. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: I hope you guys like the cover I had commissioned for the story.**

Chapter 3: Competition

Buttercup and Butch both entered the mansion. Inside, the floor of the main room was marble, with, and the room itself had two staircases that led upstairs, where a large painting hung on the wall, depicting a white haired man in a suit holding a small chick in his hand and a colorless rose in the other. "You know my sisters will throw you out if they see you here," Buttercup warned Butch since he had fibbed his way inside of the party, though she was starting to notice the lack of people in scientist clothing. Instead it all seemed more like a millionaire party judging by how people were dressed like they had all just won the lottery. Her warning was ignored since Butch had gone and approached a large table full of food that had been carefully prepared. She sighed, just going to join the crowd to mingle.

For the next couple of hours, Buttercup spent time chatting with the adults. It was an odd, but welcomed change to be treated like she was much older than she actually was. She was already starting to think her sisters were right about this party being better than she thought. When the time hit 6pm, the calm music began to change to a slightly faster tune, and Buttercup started to see some people begin to start slow dancing with each other. She just watched before the voice she hated rang out beside her. "You aren't going to join the dance?" Butch questioned, having been forced out from the main floor due to it being taken up mainly by the dancers.

"I don't like to dance. Even if I did have someone to dance with…" Buttercup simply looked away after her angered voice answered his question. "Shouldn't you have been thrown out by now?" she wondered aloud since she knew her sisters would throw him out in a heartbeat if they saw him, but then she realized that the professor wasn't seen here at all since she had arrived, she hadn't seen her sisters either. "I don't think they're here. I really wish Brick and Boomer could'a come…" Butch claimed in a bit of depression. A party wasn't too much the same without his siblings. This seemed to catch her attention.

"Wait… they aren't here…! I must have gotten the wrong address!" Buttercup groaned in irritation when she realized this. She was ready to leave, but before she could even take a step, Butch stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, wait. Come on, you don't wanna treasure hunt with me?" Butch offered with a hum. She couldn't lie that he was a lot weirder ever since the Rowdyruffs stopped causing chaos and havoc left and right for fun when they started to realize it was very painful when they kept getting beat up. "I'll give you 60% of it~" Butch continued his offer. Buttercup just threw her hands up and sighed. "Fine, fine…! I probably missed the professor's gathering anyway…" she finally gave in, just wanting to enjoy the rest of the party before she got stuck playing treasure hunter with him, though she was more surprised that no one had been suspicious of them or even realized they weren't invited here.

Buttercup tried her best to enjoy the next two hours with Butch. It wasn't the worst time she's ever had as he hadn't said anything too bad to make her want to brutalize him and change her mind on agreeing to treasure hunting. Suddenly everyone in the room's attention was drawn to the sound of coughing, and they saw a man beginning his way downstairs in a wheelchair with the help of a butler. "Whoa…! He looks… awesome!" Butch exclaimed. He and Buttercup looked at that man. The bald man had a gas mask on and two strange metal speaker like devices in the sides of his throat, and he was wearing a red suit to go with it. His face was hidden due to the gas mask. He had a laptop attached to his wheelchair. The butler stopped pushing him once they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Introducing, Mr Francis the second," the butler introduced the man who was using one hand to type on the computer. After a few short seconds, the speakers on his neck began to play. "Greetings… everyone," he said, the speakers talking for him through a sort of expensive fake voice box. "I am sure you are all aware of my father's death last year… for the past month, I have been working on this mansion to repair and clean it back up… I'm sure you all read it on the invitations that I would be holding a form of contest for whatever is left after mansion repairs… and I know you all must be worried that there is not much left… but there is at least two thousand dollars still up for grabs. …The contest… is a form of puzzle. …we begin tonight at midnight… and I shall then tell you the first objective. …And be warned… if you lose, it is much more than just the money you lose," Francis explained the reason behind this gathering, but he took a while to finish his sentences since he had to type it all out before it would play through the speakers.

"Well looks like we found the treasure," Butch whispered thinking this was going to be easy since they had super powers they could utilize to get a big advantage over the others. "Butch, you know we won't be allowed to enter this contest. We aren't even related to anyone here," Buttercup retorted, but while wondering what Francis meant by losing more than money. "Please enjoy the party until then… and if you cower out… we understand," Francis finished before letting everyone get back to the party. While the butler began to push him back up the stairs, Francis' head snapped to view the two black haired children. "And please bring the only children to my room for a chat, Mr Hopper," he gave the order. The butler nodded, letting the wheelchair bound man wheel himself up the steps with surprising ease.

Buttercup gulped as she viewed the man who had let them inside who then approached them. "Come along now," he insisted. Butch was worried that they might have been found out before the contest even began. The two reluctantly followed him upstairs, though they noticed strange flat parts to the stairs that were made for the wheelchair to be accessible. They got upstairs and took a view at the hallway that was lit by a few lights and decorated with many figurine statue heads of other family members that they had seen at the entrance. They were led to the third door in the hallway.

The butler let Buttercup and Butch inside before closing the door behind them. The room had one massive bed with two nightstands and a big dresser with a television on it alongside another door that led to the bathroom. They heard the typing of the keyboard first. "Uh, h-hey," Buttercup greeted Francis since he had his back turned to them. "Hey dude," Butch greeted as well. Francis turned around within the wheelchair. "Hello, you two… might I ask for your full names?" he requested, though the conversation had a strange atmosphere. "Buttercup Utonium," Buttercup went first, although something felt off to her. "Butch Jojo," Butch then answered. "Next question. …siblings, lovers or friends?" he continued his questionnaire. "Oh, uh, frien-" Butch tried to speak before getting his mouth covered. "None of the above," Buttercup talked over him, shooting a glare to him to make herself clear that she would hit him if he answered the questions stupidly.

"Right… I am sure you heard my speech, so I presume that you are here for my father's treasure that is being placed in the contest?" Francis continued typing fast. "…Kind of," Buttercup sighed, knowing that lying cannot help the situation if they were caught already, since she already had agreed to helping Butch hunt down treasure. "…yet you have no relation to my family name or anyone else in my family…" he exclaimed like it was a scolding session. However he took out a key and held it out in offer to them. "Here is the key to the room you shall be staying in while the contest goes on… it shall last for quite a few days… so everyone is more than welcome to stay… it is the only safe spot," Francis declared. Buttercup took the key with a raised eyebrow.

"W-wait… you're just gonna let us enter even when we snuck into your party without invite? I mean… we're just glorified greedy people," Buttercup complained, finding it somewhat hard to believe since it was too confusing to her. "Please… a few of those people are impersonating the dead… a few are vultures wanting inheritance… now go enjoy the party you two… while the night is lively," Francis warned through his vocal speakers as the moonlight was beginning to shine in through the window onto him. It was already getting to seven o'clock in the evening. Butch and Buttercup just nodded while heading back to the party to just wait for the contest to begin.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors note: I must forewarn that some chapters will be a lot longer.**

Chapter 4: The First Objective

It was getting even later at the mansion and reaching around 11:40pm. The clock was ticking away as people seemed eager for the contest to get underway. Buttercup was just sitting around alongside Butch. The two of them had lost interest in the conversations with the rich, though they were somewhat unable to believe that they were expected to stay in the forest area until the contest is over. So far she wasn't having any trouble with Butch.

"Ugh… I'm bored of just sitting around…" Butch suddenly groaned as he came up with an idea to pass the last twenty minutes. He stood up and faced her, holding his hand out in offering. She looked at it confusedly. "Let's dance," Butch told her. He received a sarcastic look for a moment before seeing her look away, slapping his hand away, dismissing his offer. "I told you, I don't know how to dance, and I don't even like it either," Buttercup hissed, though his hand continued to be held out to her. "Not even for sixty-five percent of the treasure?" he offered like it was a bribe. She didn't know whether it was cute in a pathetic way or not, but she knew if she did turn it down he would just pester her until she agreed. Buttercup sighed, grabbing his hand. Butch helped her up with a smile.

"If you try anything, I swear, I'll…" Buttercup tried to threaten him while following him to the general dancing area. "Will you relax? I'm not always making evil plots all day. Just follow my lead," he reassured, even though he did miss the old days when he could wreak havoc at any general time, but he knew she was probably referring to something else. Butch just smirked, putting a hand on her back and pulling her a bit closer. "…where'd you learn to dance anyway?" Buttercup questioned while following him through the motions of one footstep after another. "I kind of don't have a job. And when my bros were out I got bored. So I just went and learned it," he explained, just trying to enjoy the waltz that they were doing.

Midway through the dance, the clock struck twelve with a loud dong noise. Every light in the house went out simultaneously. They were both confused by this, but they found Mr Francis wheeling himself downstairs. "Well, everyone… it is time for the contest to begin…" he declared through the speakers in his throat. Buttercup blushed before moving Butch's hands off of her, just trying to ignore the moment they just had, though he enjoyed it. "The power dies at night… so does life… the mansion is the only safe place… the first objective of the contest is find this item… I wind and grow up things, slowly taking it over… I may seem like a weed, but I am beautiful," he read aloud in a clear riddle of some sorts. This was the oddest part to them.

Butch could only rub the back of his head, trying to think of what he meant, though he noticed everyone practically pouring out of the dark mansion already. "…it sounds like a flower…" Buttercup came to the conclusion. It was the only thing she could really think of it. The two of them approached the front door, noticing Mr Francis watching and most of the butlers were gone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was making her not want to go outside, like a shivering feeling up her spine that refused to go away. She peered into the darkness of the night, though the fact that they both had night vision was a reassuring element to them both. "Come on, Buttercup. Let's split up. Grab any flowers you find and we'll meet up here," Butch told her. Buttercup just gave a nod of agreement, trying to keep her strange fear in the back of her head before the two of them darted off in separate directions into the dark forest, leaving two respective green trails behind them.

Butch was flying, while suddenly noticing that the trees were extended a lot higher up, and the leaves were strangely all a charcoal shade of black. He couldn't even see the moonlight that would beam through them. If it wasn't for his night vision, he would have already hit a tree a long way back. He swore that he could see movement every now and then. It was odd to him, but he presumed that it was just an animal. Suddenly something came into view. He took notice of a garden of flowers all arranged together. He just floated down and began picking them. They weren't anything special common, wild flowers at most. However, each flower he picked began to wilt instantly in his hand, confusing him more. "What kind of flowers are these?" Butch wondered before hearing a loud crack of a twig snapping.

"Ah! Who's there?!" Butch asked, turning around. A set of metal claws were revealed in front of him, attached to a very skinny arm slamming onto the ground from behind a tree. He heard a snarling noise and watched as a skinny figure crawled out from behind. It looked and felt like it had been deprived of food for years. Its eyes were hollow and it had razor sharp teeth. The person crawled on all fours, with long legs. Each hand had long hook-like claws instead of fingers. Butch took a step back, his eyes widened. "W-what the… what are you?!" he yelled in fright, seeing another one of the creatures crawling onto one of the tall tree branches and another one coming out crawling beside the tree like a bug.

Butch gulped, believing he could take them on singlehandedly. The first one he saw let out a loud echoing screech that hurt his ears. The one that was highest up in the tree jumped downwards to him, screeching and swinging its claws. He ducked under, it watching the beast splat onto the ground behind him. The other two came charging towards him immediately. Butch's eyes glowed red firing a ray of heat vision in front of him across the ground, lighting part of it on fire. The monsters stopped instantly and stalled, though the one behind him was standing back up, growling and throwing a claw at him. Butch noticed and blocked it with his arms, the metal claws digging into his arm. He just gritted his teeth and forced himself forward, grabbing its arm and throwing it over his shoulder into the burning fire. He watched it run out of the fire, screeching in pain as it scared the other two into making a getaway. "…I wonder if I can back out of this…" Butch wondered before grabbing one of the still living flowers, but it wilted away again. He was getting angered by this. "I hate flowers…" he mumbled before flying off, wanting to search the forest for flowers that didn't just wilt, and mentally hoping those things would leave him alone.

Buttercup was flying around, looking left and right for any sign of a flower, even a dandelion. She was surprised by how there didn't even seem to be a simple weed growing. Finally, a view of a house in the near distance caught her eye. She landed and began to approach it by foot, though when she got closer, she realized that it was far beyond old and abandoned. The ceiling had mostly fallen apart, and the door was long gone. She just sighed, wondering if the ruins of the old home might have anything growing inside of it. She entered inside, looking around and seeing furniture buried under the old debris, like those who presumably once owned it had never had the chance to gather it before moving.

Buttercup explored most of the house. It was all the same, just caved in ceiling on top of everything that used to reside within the home, but finally she came to one room that seemed surprisingly clean. It was seemingly a form of child's room. She saw odd scribbles written everywhere on the wall done in black ink, the doodles depicting a very tall person, but it was practically just stick figures. Buttercup picked up a book that was resting upon the small bed and flipped it open. To her confusion, every single page had only one word on it. She just groaned, not liking the way it was written and not knowing who in their right mind would do this. She began to put the words together slowly. "I-saw-an-odd-man-today. He-was-outside-my-window-but-my-room-is-high-up. I-opened-my-window-and-talked-to-him. He-said-he-wanted-to-take-me-to-a-great-place-befo re-they-came-to-get-me. I-really-wish-I-knew-what-he-meant-but-mommy-and-d addy-seem-too-busy-packing. I-plan-on-going-with-him-next-time-he-comes. He-left-me-with-a-pretty-flower-too," the journal read after putting the words together.

Buttercup noticed something stuck at the end of the book which was a grey rose. She just picked it up with a smirk. "Heh. This contest is going to be easy," she exclaimed with pride before noticing something outside the window and hearing a light tapping noise on the glass. At the other side of the window was a man standing at the window. Buttercup was confused since the room she was in was on the second floor. She hesitantly opened the window. "Uh, hello?" she greeted him. The man was wearing a fedora that he took off and held over his chest, revealing to be bald. "Hey there, young lady… I see you are in a troubling situation…" the man started, holding out his hand in offer to her. His hand was extremely large, but his arms were like sticks.

"Troubling? It's just an old house. Can't be a big deal…" Buttercup replied until she heard a loud banging noise. She rushed out of the room, looked downstairs and found something battering at one of the room doors downstairs. The loud echoing screeches already made her quietly hide in the child's room. "Well? They do not like to mess with me. Come now. I can keep you safe," the man continued holding his hand, but Buttercup remembered what the journal read. "I can protect myself, thank you very much," she declined. The rose she held lost a petal, but she watched as the tall man's face began to twist and melt off, razor sharp teeth revealing, and his eyes falling out like they were fake. "COME HERE!" he roared, reaching his long arm through the window and grabbing her while she was stunned. He dragged her out the window. Buttercup gasped, seeing the two same monsters that Butch encountered that were climbing up a nearby tree. "W-what the…! What are you?" Buttercup asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "We're just hungry…" his voice echoed as he licked his teeth since his long tongue couldn't reach his lips. They were ready to eat her alive.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: First Night's End

Buttercup just stared at the iron teeth of the monster that had her in its grasp. She looked down to see the bottom of the man, seeing that he was indeed as tall as the journal had claimed him to be. She saw his twig like limbs, and then saw the monster that crawled on all fours jump onto his arm and began to approach her, about to take a bite, but before it could, the tall monster grabbed it and threw it to the ground. It rolled for a second before quickly getting back up.

"I captured her. I get the first bite!" the tall monster argued in it's echo like tone, though Buttercup knew just how to try and escape it. She used her heat vision to blast it in the eyeless face, making it screech in pain and dropping her. Buttercup stood, floating with her arms crossed, watching it run away. "I was actually thinking you were as scary as HIM… sheesh…" she muttered, and she watched the other monster running up the side of a tree with its iron claws. It jumped from the tree and dove at her, but she just ducked under it and once it passed her, she grabbed one of its legs, throwing it to the side of the house and rendering it unconscious. "Well it was fun beating ya, but I gotta go," Buttercup joked picking up the gray rose she had dropped off the ground before darting off to the sky, leaving a green trail behind her while heading to the mansion.

Meanwhile, Butch had been flying around every tree he crossed, looking behind him. So far the monsters had still not assaulted him further after the fire incident. He just stayed silent, panicked and somewhat traumatized, though he decided that staying close to the ground was a bad idea. He decided to fly higher, but it seemed like the trees grew taller the farther up he flew. Another thing then caught his eye, which was one of many flower blossoms on a tree that were close to turning into apples. "Huh… I wonder if these count," Butch wondered aloud, grabbing one and plucking it off the leaves with a smile, though he heard a rustling sound in the leaves above him, looking straight up before suddenly a loud screech pierced his ears. He saw one of the steel clawed monsters jump out from hiding and grab him, digging its claws into his side. "Yeowch! Let go of me, you…!" Butch snarled, but before he could finish his sentence, he was dragged down to the ground by the extra weight and slammed onto the ground.

Butch just put the apple blossom in his pocket before he grabbed the monster's claws, beginning to bend them with his super strength. "Let's see how you like it, freaky!" he shouted, tearing them from his side and jamming the jagged claws into the beast's chest, making it collapse on the ground, beginning to pool in blood. Butch started hearing a lot louder screeches, and found more of the monsters beginning to crawl down the trees from the treetops, and they didn't look happy. Afraid to face more than ten of these monstrosities, Butch just forced himself up, his side bleeding as he gripped it, and he began to dart off, heading straight back to the mansion.

Meanwhile, back in Townsville, Blossom, Bubbles and the professor were just arriving home. It was late and the gathering had certainly gone as boring as Buttercup had predicted, but the professor and their practical leader were both upset once they were inside. Bubbles was too tired to even make it to her room, so she proceeded to lay on the couch to sleep. Their father went and approached Buttercup's room and began knocking on the door. "Buttercup. I need to talk to you..." he said. No answer. He continued knocking. "Young lady, are you in there?" he questioned, not receiving a response. The professor just sighed. "Blossom, you try talking to her. I'm going to go get some shut eye," the professor told one of his practical daughters, heading off to his own room. Blossom went and opened the door, but she saw nothing but an unpopulated room. "Gone… she's probably with Mitch…" she told herself, annoyed and initially dismissing it as her just avoiding the party to hang out with another friend. She thought she could talk to her tomorrow when she did come back. She headed to her own room, planning to get some shut eye herself.

Buttercup was arriving back to the mansion with a light green streak of light behind her. She was tired from flying everywhere. The forest was a lot bigger than she expected, but she was more annoyed by the monsters that apparently inhabited it. She just panted while flinging open the doors and heading inside, having used up a lot of energy getting around. Upon entering inside, she could see multiple of the people who were at the party earlier. Only six at most were in the lobby they had clearly seen something just as bad as she had seen. "Ms Utonium. Did your partner make it back alive?" Mr Francis asked right away after spotting her. Right after, and without Buttercup trying to answer, Butch burst through the door, and accidentally rammed Buttercup, knocking her to the ground.

Butch panted, getting up and seeing the creatures that had been chasing him the entire way, but they had abruptly stopped a few feet away from the mansion, and they were staring at him through the darkness. Butch just rushed over and closed the doors, panting. He groaned, just sitting down in front of it holding his injured side in pain. "What was that for?!" Buttercup shouted while getting up, though all the rage that had sparked in her instantly vanished when she saw the bleeding Butch, and noticed his terrified expression. "Ah, good, you're both alive… Team C, E, G and F are the only teams remaining. It is a shame that most of you lost your teammates on the first night," Francis announced. Buttercup was wishing to beat him up right now for answers, but that wouldn't have been necessary. She sighed, just helping Butch up.

The two began to make their way upstairs, but when they reached Francis, who seemed to just be sitting idly in his wheelchair and overviewing everyone, Buttercup gave him the gray rose. Butch couldn't reach for his apple blossom since his arms were both on his side, trying to stop the bleeding wound. "What is your deal?" Buttercup demanded, upset that he was hosting this contest, but asked if he even knew it was deadly, but he seemed to ignore the question. "There is a medical kit in each room… congratulations for obtaining the rose. And goodnight," Mr Francis told her before wheeling himself up the opposite stairwell. Buttercup just wanting to attack him like a crazed animal right now, but she kept calm and sighed, knowing she had to ignore him to keep Butch alive.

They both got to their room. It had only one bed and a small nightstand along with a dresser and one chair. Buttercup just sighed, resting Butch in the chair. "Alright, Butch, now explain what happened to you," she spoke, beginning to look through the nightstand drawers for the medical kit. "Some… some things just got the jump on me… it's hard to hit them up front because they got such huge claws…" Butch explained what happened to him. Buttercup pulled out a medical kit that was white coloured and had a red cross on it. "Huh… I saw a few freaks too…" she claimed before coming over and taking some gauze out of the bag, lifting up his shirt a bit before she saw the injury that stretched from his side to part of his back. She just proceeded to wrap the injury to treat it.

"Where'd you learn to do this…? Ow!" Butch cried when she put pressure on his injury to try and make it bleed a little less. "Blossom wants to be a doctor. I watched her treat us a lot," Buttercup simply answered while finishing with the treatment, standing up and stretching after the tiring night. "Well thanks anyway. I'll tell ya, this is a nicer place to stay than that boring apartment," he said, just staying in the chair, not feeling up to walking around. "Yeah… about that… how did you guys get your own place? You're a few months younger than us," Buttercup asked, the only real thing about him that made her curious. "Through a well thought layout of lies. And beatings," he laughed, though he knew that the two of them were only talking to avoid conversing about the horrific night they had just went through.

"Let's just try to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be worse. I just know it," Buttercup said, knowing Mr Francis had more than just one challenges for the contestants, none of which will get any easier. "Can you help me into the bed?" Butch asked. Buttercup gave him a confused look. "Oh no. I'm not sharing a bed with you. That chair is pretty comfortable, right?" she questioned. "No. It's made of wood… and wouldn't it be better to lie on my wound?" Butch shook his head and complained. Buttercup just groaned, knowing he was right about that. She reluctantly went over and helped him out of the chair and towards the bed. "Fine… but keep your back to mine, and if you try anything, I won't hesitate to kick you to the floor," she warned him before she went to her side of the bed and sat down, lying her head on her pillow, knowing that she was going to be stuck suffering and putting up with him for a few more days, but she was glad that she was a least not alone in this nightmare. But knew she had to get some things from home if she was going to spend multiple days in the mansion.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Interrogations

Early in the next morning, the light shined through the window and right into the face of Buttercup. It was like every horror that the forest had beheld last night had abruptly vanished. Every monster and the dark charcoal trees had disappeared from sight. Buttercup groaned, waking up and holding her head. She had an odd dream last night, it was nothing entirely, but somehow seemed like she saw something in it. Buttercup just tried to ignore it before looking over to where Butch was. No sign of him. She looked at the time, seeing the clock read eight in the morning. She got out of bed and sighed, trying to figure out what her dream was about, but she dismissed it before exiting the room and heading downstairs.

Once downstairs, Buttercup found Mr Francis in his same position. The remaining contestants were gathered and listening. Butch was sitting nearby listening as well. "Ah, good, Ms Utonium… I was about to send for you… right everyone… listen up," Francis began while continuing to type on the laptop that spoke for him. The speakers on his throat were turned up in volume. Buttercup just approached her partner, glad to see him up and walking at least. She just stood beside him with her arms crossed. "Right… after a short gathering of information… I have to inform you of how the poor people who didn't return last night had died…" Mr Francis said before beginning to type a long scroll of text on his laptop screen.

"Charles A. Garoth, dead by disembowelling… Emily C. Ester, murdered by bone thievery… Cosmo R. Testonto and Elizabeth R. Pope, dead from their throats being cut open… and Chester G. Ryan, half of his body missing… reason behind death is obvious…" Francis read the list. Buttercup and Butch felt more afraid, the more they listened to it. Everyone was silent after the list reading clearly traumatized from the prior night. "Why are you telling us this? Why aren't we calling the cops? Why are we even here?" Buttercup demanded with a chain of questions, receiving a glance from him. It was hard to tell what expression he had through the gas mask.

"We are too far in for anyone else to join the competition. And once you join, you cannot back out… calling police forces would just feed them more… and why I am informing you of this, young ma'am? …It is to remind you all what greed gets you… it gets you into a position that I am in… every night for the past fifty years, I have had to listen to the howls of those beasts at night… I host contests like this every ten years to feed and silence the howling… good luck to all. That is all. …be back before midnight or else the monsters shall hunt you down…" Francis explained to them. Buttercup stood up and walked to the door. Butch saw and wanted to stop her, but he could barely stand. "W-whoa, wait babe…!" Butch spoke. "Don't call me babe," she hissed. "You can't leave the contest yet. You'll get hurt…" he reminded her thinking she was going to abandon the contest, only to see her roll her eyes in disgust. "Calm down, Butchie. I'm going to go get some things from home," she told him before opening the doors and flying off now, easily able to get past the trees. She left a trail of green light behind her. Butch was confused why she called him Butchie, but his side twinged in pain, making his thoughts stop. Butch just went back to trying to rest.

Buttercup spent the next two hours flying all the way through Citiesville and back to Townsville. She kept trying to think back to her dream from last night. All she could remember was blackness, and some short flashes of some hooded man. Buttercup tiredly arrived back to her home, not dwelling on the dream for any longer. She entered inside the living room. "Oh, hey Buttercup! Where have you been?" Bubbles questioned curiously. She had been sitting on the couch, watching television at the time, "Just… training…" Buttercup simply lied, going up to her room. There she proceeded to empty her backpack and begin filling it with some of her clothing that she randomly selected from her closet.

"What are you doing?" Buttercup heard, looking and seeing blossom standing at the doorway with an annoyed expression. Buttercup could guess that their leader was going to berate her over the missed party for this time. "Packing. I'm going to hang out at a friend's place for a bit," the green dressed girl lied while throwing her backpack over her shoulder onto her back and beginning to approach the door, but Blossom guarded the doorway, refusing to let her pass. "You aren't going anywhere until you tell me where you were last night! You missed the professors gathering!" Blossom declared in anger, since she didn't want her to just walk out without any answers. "I was just… hanging out in town with mitch," she hesitantly answered.

"Uh huh… I already visited Mitch today. He said he hasn't seen you since school yesterday," Blossom explained, having already interrogated Mitch while she was away. Buttercup though didn't come here just to be held back. She shoved Blossom out of the way and continued down the hall. "Hey! I'm not letting you leave until you tell me where you have been!" Blossom reiterated, calling out to her. "I don't care! Now get off my back!" she snapped back before flying out the door, leaving a green trail of light behind her. Bubbles just looked up to their leader in a bit of sadness. "What do you think she's upset about?" she wondered aloud. "I don't know. But next time she comes home I'm not letting her leave until I get an answer. She caught me off guard this time," Blossom gritted her teeth. She didn't enjoy arguing with her siblings, but sometimes it was just impossible to avoid. She was mainly just worried for her.

Butch was walking through one of the halls of the mansion, making his way towards Mr Francis' room. He arrived to the right door and began knocking on it. "It is unlocked," he heard, and He proceeded inside. It was somewhat hard to get around while recovering, but he tried his best to bear with it. "Um, hey, Mr Mask Dude… I need to ask you something," Butch began, spotting Francis in a room that was like theirs. He presumed that all of the rooms were designed in the same way. Francis turned around to face him, typing on his keyboard. "What is it?" he asked.

"These monsters… are they killable?" Butch questioned. After a second, a laugh came from Francis' speakers. "Please. Of course they are… these monsters used to be humans… but they unfortunately ate corruption seeds, which then began their transformations… I am soon going to announce the next competition challenge, so gather your friend and gather in the foyer in an hour," Francis exclaimed while fiddling with his throat speaker. "I'm not her friend. And she went to get some stuff… and corruption seeds?" Butch reminded him of what Buttercup reminded him multiple times. "Your girlfriend, yes… sorry sir, but I do not want to reveal any more information behind those until the time comes," Francis corrected himself. Butch sighed, giving up on the conversation. It was hard for him to get mad at an old man because he was partially senile at most. Butch just went to rest in the foyer to wait for the announcement.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Second Objective

Butch had waited for a few hours, just lying on the bed of his and Buttercup's room, glad that Mr Francis had agreed to wait until his partner showed back up before the announcement would be made. It was dark outside already, which somewhat made him afraid. He heard the sound of the door opening and saw Buttercup entering while carrying her backpack. She just rested it nearby and sighed. "How ya feeling?" she asked. Butch looked to her in surprise. "A lot better than last night… Say. When did you start to care?" he responded with a grin. Buttecup came over and punched his recently treated side, making him cringe in pain. At how sensitive he was there. "When I realized that I like to have someone watch my back. Trust me, after last night, I don't want to split up again… even if I do want to break your skull," she answered while putting her clothes inside of the nearby closet.

"Ah… Francis is gonna make an announcement for the next part of the contest soon," Butch explained. Buttercup just nodded and helped him out of bed. The two made their way downstairs to the foyer, finding Mr Francis who was just wheeling his way downstairs to where the last of the contestants were gathering, ready to listen. The clock read half past eleven, just close to midnight, as Buttercup could see. She shook her fear away while they went and stood along with the other people. "Good. You are all here… right then, people, as you all know, Ms Utonium and Mr Jojo had won the last round by finding the exact flower that I wanted…" Mr Francis started, holding the grey rose that Buttercup had acquired. She was glad to see her and Butch off to a good start.

"As you can see, there are a lot of bottles over on the table… I need you to go into the woods and fill a bottle with water you find in the wild… the purest water wins… I wish you all luck… and as a hot tip… the monsters hate loud sounds, and are sensitive to it… if they hear another screech, they will approach it to silence it… they also smell and follow blood," Mr Francis finished, wheeling himself away. The people just scattered to prepare. It seemed like no one had a team anymore beyond the two children in green. "Alright… we need a plan," Buttercup claimed while she and Butch were taking seats along the stairs. "If you got anything smarter than fly around and hope, I'm more than glad to listen," Butch commented glad, he wasn't going to be in the woods alone. He was bound to be afraid of the dark after all the monsters that he fought off.

"We fly close together. We stay on the lookout. And the second you see a monster, we just strike it before it can get us," Buttercup explained the closest thing she had to a plan. She honestly wished for Blossom to be there to help them out, but dragging her siblings into this would be the last thing she wanted. "Alright, Butterbabe, if it'll make you feel less afraid, I'll fly close," Butch laughed, only to receive another punch to his injury for the nickname he had given her, making him hunch over, gripping it in pain. At last, the clock struck midnight. Everyone heard a loud dong before the power began to die out and the mansion went dark.

"Come on, Butch. The sooner we get the water, the safer we'll be," Buttercup reminded him, going over and grabbing two of the empty glass bottles, tossing him one. He caught it and put it in his pocket before the two approached the front door of the mansion. The same tall trees with dark leaves coldly welcomed them, just like they had seen last night, which felt like a long time ago. Buttercup just took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to stay calm before the two flew off, leaving a light and dark green trail of light behind them, and knowing the other contestants were already exiting the mansion. The forest seemed impossible to fly out of. If the two flew higher, the treetops seemed to just get further away, and the fact that it felt like it never ended. Thankfully the green duos night vision was a big helper.

Buttercup and Butch flew close together, searching everywhere. Both so far were finding it hard to find any source of water since it hadn't rained for the past week, though something suddenly caught Butch's eye. "Hey! I think I just saw a pond!" he claimed, darting down to the ground with her following, thinking it was about to end very soon. Buttercup landed beside him, but she saw two wide eyed looking straight ahead. She followed his gaze, and found a completely leafless tree that had multiple skeletons tied up into it like a messed up spider web. Someone was there in a blue hood, covering their face with bandages that also entirely covering both of the man's hands. They could see only water surrounding the tree, but it was a thick black, like the water was oil.

"Yeah, I don't think this is the water mask guy wants," Butch claimed, knowing that the water was presumably unsafe for consumption. "Come on, we have to help that guy!" Buttercup claimed, flying over to the man that was tied with the skeletons who didn't move a single inch. Buttercup began undoing the ropes to try and get him down. Being a Powerpuff, it was her duty to try and save people's lives if she could. When Butch approached to help though, he saw a red beady eye from under the man's hood, "Buttercup! Stop!" he cried, getting her attention with a raised eyebrow. She looked to the man she was trying to free. The man looked at her with two red eyes in the shadows of his hood, and his sharp teeth forming a grin. Buttercup immediately backed up in fear.

"No… don't run… I'm staaaaaaaaaaarving!" His echoic voice chimed before he began growling. He revealed quite a few muscles for a monster. He began struggling against the ropes that were bound mainly to the tree branches that his arms were stuck to. They began to crack and creak. "Come on! Let's just go before he breaks out!" Buttercup said, ready to fly away, only to get stopped by her male counterpart. "I'd love to run as much as you would, but we both know he'll just follow us and surprise us later. It's better to deal with him now," Butch reminded her that the monsters had a good sneaky assaulting method. This time they had the monster in question trapped and easy to finish off. Buttercup just sighed. "Fine… not like it's human anyway," she agreed somewhat annoyed whenever he was right about something.

They watched the tree branches snap off and fall to the ground, the monster landing in front of them with a grin, glaring at them. His red glowing eyes were somewhat confusing to the two green children. They watched him reach into his pockets and pull out two knives. "You look faaaar tastier than these bone sacks did!" he declared before beginning to charge at them. He threw his leg upward, kicking water at them. Butch spat a bit when he was splashed in the face by the black water. The monster then lunged at him with both knives, but before it got close, Buttercup flew towards it, tackled it and rammed it back first onto a tree.

The monster dropped one of its knives and grabbed her arm before proceeding to bite into her shoulder. Buttercup screamed in pain, feeling its iron teeth digging into her. Butch rushed over, grabbing the knife it dropped and stabbing it in the stomach of the beast, making it let go of her with a loud screech. The bloody giant teeth swiped out of Buttercup's flesh. Butch just grabbed her and flew away in panic, knowing that more monsters might come if they had stayed.

"I'm sorry Buttercup. I was way wrong," Butch apologized like he was the one who had caused the injury while Buttercup was flying beside him, having not enjoyed being dragged away from a fight where an arm could have been lost, but was thankful for the save nonetheless. "It wasn't your fault, calm down. I was just being slow when it grabbed me," Buttercup responded before the two noticed remains of another building. "Let's check in here…" he said, proceeding to lower himself to land, examining leftovers for a brick foundation. Buttercup had no better ideas anywhere that looked like it might have better water. When they landed, she proceeded to rip off one of the sleeve of one of her shirt and begin bandaging her injury to stop it from bleeding.

"Whoa… you better come look at this," Butch told her from around the corner. Buttercup just sighed, wondering what stupid thing caught his attention this time, but when she approached his general location, she saw him staring at a statue depicting an extremely tall man that was lying like a soldier in defeat. "I never really understood art," Buttercup commented, not sure what the statue was supposed to resemble, though she could tell from the fact that a few other statues were set up that it was probably a storage area. They started to hear snarls echoing from the pitch darkness.

"You let me handle this one," Butch told her. Buttercup shot an annoyed glare to him and crossed her arms. One look revealed to Butch that three clawed monsters were creeping around, trying to be sneaky. He recognized them as the first bunch that attacked him before he could tell, because one of them was majorly burnt from the face to the lower stomach. He was surprised to see it alive. Buttercup just watched, waiting for him to inevitably mess up so she could save him again, just as she predicted anyway.

One of the three monsters began charging at him on all fours. Butch reacted with his powers of energy projection to create a couple of green clear spheres in his hands, throwing one at the monster that was charging at him. He watched it hit the monster directly, exploding on contact and blasting it back onto its back to where it had stopped moving. Butch threw the other energy sphere at the other two, seeing the burnt monster jump over it. The other monster however was hit directly and it exploded, sending it back onto its side where it ceased movement. The burnt monster got to Butch, digging its big metal claws into the ground, and it threw itself forward, kicking Butch away before it took out his claws and stabbed them into his leg. He screamed in pain before he grabbed its other arm and snapped it in a way that it wasn't supposed to go, and made it stab itself in the head.

Butch was panting after the encounter was over, watching the burnt monster fall to the ground in defeat. "How come you can't fight a girl as well as you fight those?" Buttercup asked while approaching him, trying to lighten the mood after he murdered a trio of monsters. But couldn't think of a joke to insult her with. "Girls usually do more than just blindly rush," he answered, holding his leg in pain. "Come on… let's just walk," she offered, going over and letting him put an arm around her so she could help him walk. They just continued deeper into the forest to try and find a clean source of water.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Completing the second objective

Buttercup and Butch walked for hours on end in the dark forest. They had saved a lot of energy from the rough fights they had earlier, and from not wasting it on flying around blindly. "…what do you think about all this?" Butch tried starting up a conversation while looking around, keeping a paranoid watch in case if one of the many monsters tried to get a sneak attack on them. "What do you mean what do I think? I think it's insane, the fact that no one has talked about this and no one knows about it," Buttercup answered, trying to keep strong and act brave when really she was just as terrified as he was of the woods. "Yeah… remind me to beat the answers behind that out of Francis," he requested a reminder while they began to come across and approach a river of dark water, hearing a light splash coming from it.

"Sheesh… is every body of water here dirty?" Buttercup asked, noticing a familiar body that they had seen earlier that night at the mansion. She just shook her head, knowing there was no hope for reviving the dead contestant. All they could do was report it to Mr Francis the next time they saw him. "Maybe where the water's coming from is clean?" he suggested following the river from where it was coming from. She didn't have any problem with that, and they began to fly along with the river, mainly because Butch's injured leg couldn't handle anymore walking without wanting to give out.

Soon they were up stream to a point where they found water pouring out from around a huge rock that was plugging up the rest of the stream and the water seemed clean. "Ugh… alright, help me move this," Buttercup told him while landing. She went over and tried to grip the practical boulder, Butch coming down to help, but when they tried to lift her arm twinged in pain and his leg felt like it was about to snap. They let go, unable to lift it due to their injuries. "Ow… no good… that bite messed my arm up too bad," Buttercup muttered. "My leg isn't in a better condition," Butch chimed. Buttercup wasn't even in a good enough mood to punch him to get him to quiet down.

"I'd blast it with my energy projection, but uh… I think I'm going to need my energy," Butch said, making her raise an eyebrow before she looked in the direction he was staring at. They found a monster with very tall limbs sitting against a tree, extremely skinny to the point that it looked like one small fall would break its limbs in two. It was eyeless as well like most of the monsters, and the face of the beast just stared at the ground with its elbows resting on its knees. "…I think it's dead already," Buttercup commented, viewing the monster's very poor condition, but she wasn't in the mood to get close and personal to find out. Butch was given a sudden idea. He lifted up his shirt and tore off the gauze that had been covering his wound. Thankfully it didn't bleed anymore, but a big claw mark was still there and had yet to be healed.

"What are you doing?" Buttercup watched him put the bloody gauze on the big rock before he came over and took the shirt sleeve she was using as an artificial piece of gauze. The bleeding in her arm had already stopped. He went and began rubbing the fresh blood on the rock. "You'll see. Just hide on the other side of the rock," Butch told her with a smile. She pondered in her mind whether or not to query further into him, but then thought that time was really not on their side. She went on the other side of the rock like asked. Suddenly Butch began whistling loudly, the sound echoing through the woods.

Buttercup leaned to the side, peeking around the rock. The giant monster they presumed to be dead was trying to stand up, putting a hand to the ground and trying to force itself up. Butch was waving his arms in front of the beast. "Hey! Come on! Really juicy blood filled boy right here!" he called out like a sideshow host. The monster just stood up, slightly wobbling its legs like small trees with how thin they were. Each step it took towards them felt like an eternity with how slow it was. "What are you doing, you idiot?!" Buttercup whispered in irritation. The monster took another long step towards them, and Butch moved, flying behind the rock and grabbing her, pulling her beside him to keep quiet.

They suddenly saw the long arms of the monster wrap entirely around the boulder. They heard the sound of a loud crunch. Soon the monster began to lift the boulder in the air. For being skinny, it seemed super strong. The giant rock was lifted into the air, though the monster was dumb enough to dig its teeth into the rock. Water began pouring out, clean and clear. Butch and Buttercup began filling their bottles with it, both in a bit of a rush, hoping that the monster would stay distracted. Once both of the glass bottles were full, they saw the tall monster drop the boulder abruptly, groaning in agony.

"What is its deal?" Buttercup questioned, backing up while corking the bottle and putting it in her pocket. They could see a small kitchen knife in the side of the monster that was resting on the rock. Butch recognized the position the monster was taking up. It was similar to that of the statue they had found earlier that night. "I told you… I'm staaaarving…!" they heard, finding the same hooded beast that approached from the darkness, with a grin like it was stuck permanently smiling. It pulled back, having another knife slide out from its hand that seemed to be tied to a string. He swung it at the tall monster, hitting it in the head and watching it collapse onto the rock, laying there at the last second of its life.

"Okay. On three… fly back to the mansion…" Buttercup told Butch, having an idea while they watched the monster get its knives back on his hand. Both knives were tied to strings, and were being dragging behind it, for an attempt for long range attacks. "Alright…" Butch groaned, getting ready, his leg feeling shattered. "One… two… three… GO!" she shouted, darting off with all of her speed, with a green trail of light following. She pulled out the glass bottle of water, throwing it in the face of the monster. The bottle smashed into pieces, leaving scars on the face of the abomination. The monster instantly grabbed its face in agony while Butch followed her, knowing that they needed to get back to the mansion with only one bottle of water, after the painful night they just had.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: End of the Second Night

Butch and Buttercup had flown the entire way through the woods. The two were very tired after their long night they had spent hunting for just a bottle of clean water. They were both determined to find out what had happened to cause this forest to become inhabited with monsters in the first place. Butch was clinging tightly to the bottle of water that they had nearly died to get. To their relief, they saw the mansion come to view in their night vision. They both rushed the door and flung it open, darting inside and closing it behind them, panting. This time they weren't greeted by anything. The foyer was empty. No one was around, not even the last of the contestants.

"...Where is everyone?" Butch questioned in the silence of the dark mansion that was labelled as a safe haven at this point. They could hear the sounds of squeaking wheels, and they saw Mr Francis come downstairs. "Hm… Ms Utonium and Mr Jojo… I was worried that none of my contestants were coming back alive…" Francis exclaimed. Butch just glared at him and threw the glass jar of water at him. The old man caught it with perfection, looking it over. "Ah, yes… pure… you have done well…" he said. They couldn't tell if he was happy or not. The gas mask he wore every day and every week was never removed, and it was always confusing, but they both were glaring at him. "You owe us some answers, buddy!" he started. "You heard him! How many more stupid challenges are left in this contest?" Buttercup snarled, but Mr Francis stayed calm while looking to them.

"You have one part left… treat yourselves, and then visit me tomorrow morning. We shall talk then…" Mr Francis bid them goodnight before he wheeled himself upstairs, now with the bottle of water. "Come on. I just wanna go to bed," Buttercup sighed, taking his arm and beginning to help him climb up the steps. The mansion was empty, now that everyone who had once came here were either dead or not back yet.

When they got back to their room, Butch sat on the nearby chair, wanting to pass out right there from blood loss, but he couldn't. "Right… my injury first," Buttercup muttered while getting the medical kit and handing it to him. Butch just nodded, taking out the gauze and beginning to wrap it around her arm. The huge bite mark was eerie to him, and he couldn't help but feel guilty, like he was the one to blame for it, but at least her injury was minor in comparison to his at the moment. His leg felt like he had ran for a thousand miles. He finished, and handed Buttercup the medical kit. She proceeded to begin treating the injury to his side with the gauze since he had removed the bandaging before.

"…So what do you plan on doing with the money? After you win it?" Buttercup asked. The sooner they forgot what they saw tonight, the better. Butch just gave a light hearted chuckle. "I don't know… probably blow it on something stupid…" he answered before having an idea. "Like you," he suddenly added, making her raise an eyebrow and stand up in front of him after she had treated his leg. She crossed her arms glaring at him. "What do you mean like me?" Buttercup questioned what he meant, not sure if he had just insulted her or had hit on her. "I mean… why don't we hang out after all of this is done… y'know… a date," Butch explained somewhat fearfully. His now treated side received a punch, making him yelp in pain as he gripped it. "…fine…" Buttercup just sighed while lying on the bed. "W-what?" Butch repeated, confused. "I said fine. If we get out of this alive, then I'll go out with you. But if I don't like it, we 'will' go our separate ways. Got it?" she glared at him. "Y-yeah, sure thing…" Butch nodded. With that arranged, the two tried to get to sleep, knowing that tomorrow was the final part of the competition.

Around eleven o'clock in the morning, Butch began to wake up, groaning and rubbing his eyes from them burning somewhat as result of the late night to day environment change. He took a glance at the still sleeping Buttercup in bed with the blankets thrown over her head, He just rubbed his back in pain and exited back into the hall, making his way towards the foyer, but along the way, he went past Mr Francis's room where he found the wheelchair bound old man sitting in front of a window with his back turned. His curiosity was drawn as he entered the room. "Hey… what are you doing?" Butch spoke. Francis turned his wheelchair to face the young boy, while the gray rose rested in the bottle of water. "Nothing… Just watching this rare beauty bloom… the other contestants… they have all been confirmed dead," Mr Francis declared, just as he predicted. This was saddening to the both of them. Mr Francis showed Butch a red seed. "The final challenge of the contest… is to collect a bag full of these seeds. They are hard to find..." he explained. Butch looked at the red seed for a brief moment. Suddenly, a smirk crept on his face.

"So wait… all you want us to do is collect red little seeds? That's it? Ha! I'll go do that now! This will be a piece of cake!" Butch declared, happily flying off through the halls. Mr Francis was reaching to the door like he had been trying to stop him, but sadly his typing hand wasn't fast enough to speak through his speakers. He just went back to tending to the gray rose.

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Weeping Rose

At One O'clock in the afternoon, Buttercup had been awake a good half an hour ago. She had changed out of her damaged clothing into one of the other shirts she had brought, which was green with a black skull print on the back of it. It was somewhat old she hadn't worn it since she got it a few months ago on her birthday from the professor. "Right… now to find Butch," she muttered, having seen no sign of him since she woke up, wondering if he was okay. She headed out of the room and back into the practically empty mansion. She wandered the halls and came across the wide open door to Mr Francis's room, and she could hear light laughter coming from him that was muffled by his gas mask.

"Hey. Have you seen Butch?" Buttercup questioned while entering the room. Mr Francis wheeled himself around, the gray rose still resting in the glass bottle of water, but Buttercup had noticed a more blooming look on that rose. "Mr JoJo was here earlier… he went to complete the last challenge while it is still bright…" he answered. The young girl approached, seeing the slightly grown gray rose with few bright red seeds fallen out of it. "The last challenge? What is it?" Buttercup replied, curious behind what the red seed was as well. "I sent him to collect these," The old man answered, fixing his gas mask before picking up the red seed with a smile, his gloved hand holding it while the eyes of the gas mask stared at it. "Well while he's at it… I want you to explain to us what your deal is. And what this whole forests deal is on top of that," the puff demanded with her crossed arms, glaring at him. "With pleasure," Francis agreed to explain.

Butch walked through the forest, the atmosphere and environment a lot happier in the daytime. He was just glad that he wasn't going to see any monsters and was hoping to get these red seeds with ease. He had decided to walk, mainly to save energy from flying, but he was surprised by how big the forest was. He suddenly noticed something bright and red lying on the ground, examining a seed. He didn't touch it, but he noticed multiple red seeds lining up together like a pathway. He just began to follow them. They were lighting his path along until he came upon a nearly intact home that seemed to have been newly constructed, judging by some building materials lying around.

Butch kept following the trail of red seeds that led behind the home and to a small greenhouse. He raised an eyebrow while entering the greenhouse. Inside were gray roses everywhere, and the floor littered with bright red seeds. "…Jackpot!" he laughed in glee before crouching and beginning to pick up the red seeds and line his pockets with them. No matter how long it took, Butch thought it was all worth it.

"Where to begin? …would you prefer to hear how the monsters are born, the forest's origin or my family's game behind it?" Mr Francis asked his angered guest, adjusting his voice speakers to make it the clearest as they can handle it, while typing away on his laptop. "Let's start with… I dunno… how had this forest full of monsters existed for so long and how come anyone hasn't been found out yet?" Buttercup sarcastically asked. "You're asking for the answer to all three at once," Francis claimed before beginning to type. "We'll start with the forest's birth… it was a hundred years ago…" he started. Buttercup groaned before taking a seat in a nearby chair. There was going to be a few annoying stories that only old people seemed to have the patience to listen to.

"These roses… they are special for giving life to the trees… however we had only one rose that we acquired a hundred years ago… it was given to us by a weird entity… I believe his name was HIM," Mr Francis began while continuing to type with his maximum speed on the laptop to make his speakers talk and explain his stories. Buttercup was well familiar with HIM, the face of horrors beyond horrors that had been killed a long time ago. "But then… the flower produced this…" he said, showing the bright red seed in his gloved hand. Buttercup tried to grab it, but he jerked it away.

"When planted, they took a long time to grow… almost five years… and after a while we had a grand garden of those roses… they are a rare type now… the house my uncle grew them in was lost in the forest. The trees were born from the seeds as well. It was hard to get a rose to bloom from it… you usually got a tree… eventually we noticed the other residents of the forest vanishing before our eyes…" Francis continued before throwing the red seed into a nearby trash bin. "And the monsters?" Buttercup wanted him to continue, knowing he was somewhat slow, even with him typing blazingly. "Yes… the beasts were all humans at one point… but the red seeds… when held with uncovered hands, you feel compelled to eat them… you want to just consume a good amount, and when you do, the seeds begin to grow in your belly and planting themselves… if you do not get them out within twenty four hours, then you shall succumb to becoming a monster… if not having your mind taken over beforehand…" Francis finished his explanation behind the red seeds and how the forest and the monsters came to be.

"…And why did you wait until now to tell us? Why don't you have the military come deal with them or burn the forest to the ground?" Buttercup questioned with her arms crossed, still listening. The last time she had listened to such a long story was when the professor's father was in town. "The forest would catch a blaze… it would spread easy throughout the entire forest… these are not humans anymore… they are animals. …I do not want to ruin the prospects of future research that these beasts could bring to society," Mr Francis answered, looking back to the rose that dropped another seed from its petal, "The roses… they cry for the loss of the beasts that are killed in the contest," he said stroking its petals before reaching the stem of the flower and snapping it. In an instant, the petals wilted away.

Butch was still in the greenhouse, filling his pockets with the seeds. He picked one up and looked at it in his hand. They seemed brighter, the closer he looked. A sudden force was ringing in the back of his mind to just munch at it. "…I wonder if they taste like sunflower seeds," Butch wondered aloud, his stomach growling for breakfast. He took his chances and popped the seed into his mouth. He swallowed, and with a raised eyebrow, he tasted nothing, but it had no bad flavor for him to complain about. "Maybe just another…" he mumbled, picking up a hand full of the red seeds from the greenhouse floor and pouring them into his mouth, just swallowing them whole. Right after, he felt strange. His eyes were hurting, and soon his entire body except for his stomach was aching. His pupils were tinting into blood red. He groaned loudly, lying on the ground and letting out a scream of agony, before he was rendered unconscious.

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note: I plan on posting the ending + the epilogue at the same time tomorrow.**

Chapter 11: From Partner to Prey

Buttercup had been waiting in the foyer of the mansion since four in the afternoon for Butch to return since he was supposed to simply just go and gather red seeds that Mr Francis had informed her about. She was still surprised that HIM had started all of this, the forest and the monsters still existing because of some simple tiny seeds. "Ugh… where is that idiot?" she wondered aloud wondering what he could have gotten himself involved into during a simple seed collecting run. She just sighed before heading out the front door of the mansion, and she flew off into the forest, willing to find him before midnight or else he will probably be in a terrible situation, and get the both of them stuck surviving another night in the horrific environment.

Buttercup spent the next few hours searching through the forest for her partner, but so far she had no sign of him. She came across one of the strange red seeds like she had seen Francis with. Behind that seed was a small trail of them. Buttercup raised an eyebrow, proceeding to follow the trail. She knew better than to touch any of them without fabric or a pair of gloves on her hands. "Butch! You around?!" she called out, her voice echoing through the woods. She just gave a sigh, irritated that it was getting too hard looking for him. Soon a home in good shape came into view, the trail leading her around to the back of the home.

Buttercup found the old greenhouse, the same one that Butch had run into, and noticed a vague familiar shadow through some of the glass. She wondered what exactly he was doing inside. The red seeds led her to the entrance of the greenhouse. She opened the door and entered inside. To her surprise, she found Butch crouched down, his back turned and his face buried in his hands. "There you are, Butch! I've been looking for you…! Come on, we need to get those seeds back so we can go home…" Buttercup reminded him before noticing the many seeds scattered beneath her feet. Buttercup was confused what Butch had been doing the whole time, but then she heard a growl. Mr Francis' words swirled around again in her head as she took a step closer to him.

"Uh… Butch…?" Buttercup repeated, putting a hand on his shoulder, but like a crazed dog, he swiped at her. She jumped back, seeing bonier fingers and longer nails than last time. She was mortified when she saw him turn to face her. His pupils were red and the rest of his eyes were black instead of their normal colours. He had a huge stupid grin across his face with his teeth showing. They were now just pure iron like one of the many monsters they had met. "B… butch…! You idiot! You ate the seeds!" she shrieked at him, coming to realization that he had done what Francis had warned about. She felt something inside her snap, when she saw that demonic face of his. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was that made her feel like she didn't want to stand anymore, like she just wanted to lay down and die.

"Yum… you look tasty…" Butch responded like he didn't even hear her. His long tongue licked his teeth as he snarled. Buttercup was ready, knowing what he was going to try and do. "Please, Butch… what about the money? Isn't that what you entered for? We've practically won it," the upset Buttercup tried to persuade him, taking a step back from the approaching Butch. "Staaaarving…" his voice echoed. She didn't know how to respond now. There was a monster that was in the daylight and it had superpowers.

Butch charged at her, having a pitch black streak of light behind him. Buttercup ducked under him and grabbed his leg when Butch was exactly above her. She slammed him to the ground and stomped on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. She didn't know what to do at this point, though with a quick moment of thinking, she had a plan. She grabbed one of the many big tables that used to hold up dozens of gray roses. She didn't care how many fell off. Buttercup dragged it over and dropped it onto of his back, just letting it pin the now monstrous Butch. Buttercup crouched down, just taking his monstrous hand in hers. "Just… just wait here. I'll be back. Please, just stay here, okay?" the upset powerpuff begged to the unconscious monster before getting up and darting out of the greenhouse, her usual light green streak of light following her. She flew at maximum speed, having come up with an idea that she was mentally hoping will work.

Butch was left there for a good hour. When it passed, snarls and growls came out of his mouth as he began struggling to get up. "Grrrr! Food… meat… staaarving!" he roared, trying to get out from under the heavy table. He crawled out from under it, as becoming a monster had made him stupider. He didn't know how to use every power, but flying and super strength was certainly something he had mastered. Butch saw something in the distance through his new sickly looking night vision. He grinned, beginning to head in the direction towards the mansion.

For the next few hours, Buttercup had flown through the forest through Citiesville and all the way to Townsville. It was seven o'clock in the evening by the time she arrived home. She was panting from losing so much energy by just flying. She tried to keep her composure before entering the home which she kept well away from for the past few days. There was no one around in the living room. She presumed that everyone was just doing their own business in their own rooms. So she just continued to the basement. In the basement, test tubes and various devices surrounded her that seemed crafted by hand. The room was made of metal for safety measures. It was the professor's room that he considered his laboratory. It was rare that he invented anything that threatening. "Professor! Are you here?!" Buttercup called. She looked around to see him stood up from behind one of the many inventions. "Buttercup! Where have you been, young lady?" the professor asked, walking over to her with a slightly angered look.

"I'll explain later. Right now, I have a big problem! What do you give someone when they eat something they aren't supposed to?" Buttercup asked. The professor planned on not to give her an answer until he received one, but he saw the pleading look in her green eyes like she was going to cry at any moment. He was weak to that look whenever his daughters gave it to him. "Well… normally you induce vomiting with ipecac," the professor answered, going over to one of the many cabinets and rummaging around in it, pulling out a small brown bottle of ipecac. He gave it to her, seeing a strange hopeful look in her eyes. "But I warn you, young lady, I want you to come right home after you do. Whatever this is… and you are going to give us some answers," he reminded her. "Yes professor," Buttercup nodded and dashed off upstairs, bursting out the door to speed off back to the forest.

Meanwhile at the mansion, Mr Francis was resting in his room, the moon rising in the sky above the forest gaining his attention, which was like his own personal entertainment. Suddenly he heard a loud crashing noise. He grabbed the wheels of his chair and began to make his way downstairs. The front doors were completely off their hinges and on the floor, and the monster Butch stood, letting out a loud screech with his now echoic voice. Mr Francis saw this, with a feeling like he was actually expecting this to happen. Mr Francis typed away on his laptop. "I knew you were foolish… but there has been one little secret behind what has been keeping me alive for these past hundred years…" he told the young monster. Butch glared at him with a grin, his eyes glowed bright red, and he fired a blast of heat vision. Francis threw himself out of his wheelchair before the heat ray lit the wheelchair ablaze.

Mr Francis growled, slamming his arms on the floor and beginning to force himself up. Before he knew it, he was on one knee and slowly forcing himself up on his feet. He removed both of his gloves, revealing sharp fingers similar to the kind that Butch had. He reached up and grabbed his throat speakers, twisting and turning them, digging his claws deep before ripping them out from the sides of his throat. "I have been feeding my hunger… for far too long!" Francis's voice took a more hollowed tone to it. And then he took off his gas mask. Red seeds poured out from inside of it, all having been consumed in and out every day the whole time. It took all of his control to stay in touch with his human side.

Francis revealed his own empty eye sockets and sharp teeth. He got into a fighting stance while glaring at Butch. "Hungry… you look… soooo riiiiiiipe!" Butch screeched. "This body looks old. But I will let you know, that it can hit just as hard," he hissed back. The only real hope for him was to buy time and pray that Buttercup will come back to the mansion, thinking that she was still out there searching. Butch charged at the old man, a loud snarl coming out of him. Francis just glared at him, punching him away. There were now two monsters that wanted to kill each other for survival. "I've fought off worse monsters then you, if you honestly think I'll let you shame my kind, no matter how much strength you may have," Mr Francis coughed, his tone echoic but still attempting to sound like a gentleman. Butch fired a ray of heat vision. The old man crouched under it, letting it light the wall on fire. Butch charged at him and tackled him, sending the old monster through the wall to the next room all while the foyer was catching ablaze.

The next room was completely empty, aside from a few boxes lying around. Butch was on top of Francis, leaning down and trying to bite into him, but Francis punched him off. Thankfully the old man had experience in fighting monsters a lot with his own two hands. Mr Francis took in a deep breath, letting out a loud echoing screech that was louder than the rest. It increased in volume as Butch covered his ears in agony. The monsters did despise the sound. His guard was down and Francis charged at him, grabbing his spiky black hair and ramming his knee to his face, knocking him back to the floor.

Buttercup had flown all the way from Townsville and back to the forest at the time of eleven o'clock, just one hour before midnight, but by the time she did, there was smoke rising from the forest. "What the…?!" she gasped, her eyes widened before flying into it, desperately clinging to the bottle of ipecac that the professor had given her. She arrived to where the smoke was coming from, and she was shocked to see the mansion burning brightly and the forest beginning to catch that fire. Buttercup rushed into the burning mansion. The fire didn't bother her too much. All she thought about was to save Mr Francis.

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: To Save a Dear Friend

Buttercup had entered the burning mansion. Everything was lit ablaze. She was about to put it out, but hearing a loud echoic screech, followed by a crashing noise stopped her, and she knew it was only one hour until midnight when the monsters will appear. "Butch…" she quietly muttered, enraged. She flew to the room that had a huge hole in the wall. The basement door was broken entirely into fragments, and the sounds of screeching continued through there, followed by the sound of wood snapping. Buttercup made her way down the steps, thankful for the gift of night vision that she kept on. The basement seemed like the one part of the mansion that wasn't on fire. She arrived to the basement, rows of wine caskets welcoming her.

"Grah!" an echoic voice rang out. Buttercup saw Mr Francis who was slammed into one of the caskets from around one of the corners. The wine cellar was a lot bigger than it seemed to be. "Francis!" Buttercup ran to him, though she stopped abruptly in her tracks upon seeing his monstrous face. "…Ms Utonium… you certainly… know timing…" he coughed, battered and bruised, and missing a chunk from his shoulder. He pointed in the direction where he was just thrown from. Buttercup turned around only to see Butch, standing there with blood covering his mouth, and a fair share of bruises on him. He was on one knee, panting and trying to regain his energy.

Buttercup wanted to ask Francis why he was a monster as well, but the fact that he was not trying to rip her throat open was more than welcomed. "Listen, it's not been nowhere near twenty-four hours… can you help me get him to take this?" she questioned, coming over and grabbing Francis' clawed hand and pulling him to his feet. "I'll do my best. But I'm no hero," he agreed, seeing the bottle of ipecac. He already knew her plan. "Yeah, well I am," she reassured. "AAAAAAAGH! Want… more!" Butch screeched, his monstrous voice rung out in front of the other two. He was back up on his feet and baring his claws down on them, craving for a second meal after he had bitten a part out of Francis.

Butch fired a ray of heat vision from his eyes towards them. Buttercup put her arms up, catching it and blocking it. Slowly, she was getting pushed back against the wall, the ray no doubt slightly too strong for her. Mr Francis dashed by the beam and punched Butch in his forehead, making him lurch back in pain from the heavy blow to the face. Buttercup then darted at him with a trail of green light behind her. The young monster regained his ground, letting out a screech and punching Francis away, right before Buttercup tossed the bottle of ipecac at him while he was screeching with his mouth wide open.

Butch caught the bottle in his razor sharp teeth, his red dotted eyes now looking down at it. Without a second thought, he just bit down, making the bottle of ipecac explode in his mouth. Buttercup grinned, being glad to know how stupid those monsters actually were when they changed. She saw a sickly look take over his face. Butch fell on all fours, his hands clinging at the ground as he began vomiting projectiles. Just as Buttercup watched and expected, red seeds poured out of his mouth, swimming in the puke that then pooled under Butch. As he continued to hurl up every last seed that he ate, Buttercup gradually watched the red pupils vanish and his teeth eyes and hands reform into their normal human state.

After a short minute or two, the vomiting had stopped, and Butch stayed there panting. "Uhhhnn… oh man… what happened?" he moaned, looking up to see Buttercup and the monster that was Mr Francis. Before he could figure out anything more, he was brought into a hug by Buttercup. "Thank goodness, you're back!" she cheered. Butch looked at her, just confused with a blush. She had really bonded with him for the past few days they had spent in this contest. They heard a loud crashing noise. "Ahem! I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but if we do not evacuate the premises now, I believe we will be in a bad spot," Francis coughed and then spoke out. The two black haired children nodded, breaking the hug and going ahead upstairs. Butch was slowly gaining his memory back.

"You really have to tell me what happened…" Butch claimed, noticing a piece of ceiling that was blocking the wine cellar doorway. He punched it, shattering the debris to pieces, the fire not truly affecting them. "I will. But hey, at least we won," Buttercup told him while Francis followed suit only a few feet behind. It was odd to be escorting a monster, but the two didn't complain. They went through the areas where they had fought in, and the fire had not spread as badly. "Ah, my mask…" Mr Francis approached, picking up his gas mask when they arrived to the foyer. He put it back on his head. The two couldn't see his hollow eyes or sharp teeth anymore. It was an entirely creepy thought that they had been playing a contest for a monster all this time.

The trio escaped the mansion through the front door just as the mansion was beginning to collapse into pieces, the flames taking over the forest to a decent amount and spreading wildly. Buttercup saw the lanterns that lit up the dirt path to the mansion, and Mr Francis started walked down ahead of them. "Hey! We need to put out the fire," Buttercup exclaimed, knowing that Butch was too confused to be sure of what to do. "Don't… let it burn… I want these roses to weep no more," the old man claimed. Buttercup was confused, wondering what had changed his mind to make him stop caring for the forest any longer. The two just began to walk down the trail that led them all out of the burning woods. Mr Francis had realized how bad the forest could get, the second he had seen butch in his monster form. Thankfully they had at least saved him from the fate most of the people suffered when turning into monsters.

Once the trio had reached the end of the dirt path, they turned around to watch the flames and the smoke slowly engulf the night. "Well… that was the worst time of my life," Butch exclaimed, having not really enjoyed the past few days. "Ditto," Buttercup agreed tiredly, the emotional and mentally draining few days were a lot more stressful than she expected. She felt his hand wrap around hers, but she didn't fight back, not able to give up any more energy. Mr Francis' skinny hand came in between them, holding a wad of money. They looked at him confusedly. "What's this?" Butch asked, taking the wad of cash. "Your prize… you won, correct?" he coughed through his gas mask. The two had quite frankly forgotten the prize during the heat of everything.

"Heh… this was not worth it," Buttercup exclaimed. "Sorry about letting your place burn down…" Butch apologized. A slight echoic laugh came from him. "Please… for decades, I have fed these monsters… but, without the red seeds, I won't last long myself. …so enjoy that money… it is the best that I could reward you two with…" he elaborated. He had been sick of his unfulfilled life and how he was going to inevitably lose control of his mind without a steady supply of the red seeds now. "What are you going to do now?" Buttercup wondered. Mr Francis sighed, taking a moment ponder over it. "I shall probably take my life in a motel room with a gun that I have stored away… Ms Utonium… and Mr Jojo… I thank you… I am sure that my father is happy too, smiling down at you from the stars…" Mr Francis claimed before putting his hands in the pockets of his business suit. He began to walk away, his figure fading from Buttercup and Butch's view in the far darkness.

"…well, here ya go, babe. Thirteen hundred dollars, sixty five percent. Just like I promised," Butch claimed after counting the two thousand dollars that they had received. Buttercup only took half of the money. "Let's just keep it at fifty-fifty. You can use your some of it on something stupid," Buttercup reminded him of what he said before, only taking some of the money and pocketing it. "Alright… I'll see you Tuesday then," he laughed. Another punch flew at his injured side, making him yelp in pain. "It's a date," Buttercup laughed, bidding him goodbye before flying away, heading into the night sky above Citiesville, leaving a light green streak of light behind her. She wanted to try and forget the horrid memories that they had experienced in that forest. Butch just flew off into Citiesville to get home, his dark green streak of light forming behind him once more.

Around midnight at the apartment, Brick and Boomer were playing checkers out of boredom from still waiting for Butch's return. "King me," Boomer hummed. Brick gave a narrowed glare, knowing he had lost already since half of his checker pieces were gone and most of his sibling's pieces were kings. Brick didn't seem so good at checkers. The door opened, catching the two brothers' attention, and they saw the battered Butch enter. "Whoa! Butch, you're back!" Brick welcomed back their sibling. "Hey dude. Did ya find any treasure?" Boomer snickered, since the two were the reason why he had wound up at the woods in the first place. But his snickering stopped, and his and Brick's eyes widened when he showed a wad of money. "Eh, I found a little treasure. Only got a thousand out of it though. Well, goodnight," Butch told them, heading off to his room. His brothers just looked at each other in shock. "…dude, go look up other abandoned mansions," Brick told Boomer. He only nodded in agreement, knowing to do this as soon as he could.

Meanwhile in Townsville, Buttercup had arrived home at least. The light was on in the living room as Buttercup entered inside. She saw the professor sitting in one of the chairs like he normally did whenever he planned on talking with one of his children on an important matter. "Ah, good, Buttercup. You're home… now then young lady… let's talk," the professor started. Buttercup went and stood in front of him. "…now, can you tell me what has been with you lately? Staying out all night and barely coming home…" he wanted an answer, not letting her go anywhere until he got one.

"…Alright, I'm not going to lie, professor…" Buttercup claimed, having a well thought out idea for a lie. She did not want to talk about the monstrous incident that she had been through, as she didn't want to horrify the professor to the core. She showed the thousand dollars she had won in the contest. "I got a job, okay? There were just some things I didn't want to ask you for money for. It was just a guard job," she lied. Upon realization, the professor let out a light-hearted laugh. "Oh, sweetheart. That's great to hear you got a job," he exclaimed, bringing her into a hug. "You had us all riled up for nothing. Why didn't you tell us though?" the professor curiously asked. "I figured you guys would laugh, considering I got stuck protecting kind of jerky people," she continued her lie. He broke the hug and patted her head. "Well don't worry. Now go and get some sleep," the professor instructed. "Alright. Goodnight, professor," Buttercup told him before going upstairs. She couldn't help but let a smirk creep on her face, glad to have handled that just perfectly. Now, she wanted to put everything she had been through behind her and get back to her somewhat normal life.

The End...


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Epilogue

One long year had passed since the competition at the mansion had been finished. Today in the City of Townsville was normal. Buttercup woke up, looking at the time on the alarm clock. At the estimate of nine o'clock in the morning, she just climbed out of bed, yawning. There were two newspaper article clippings taped onto the mirror on her dresser, one clipping that was dated to a year ago; "Fifteen miles of forest burnt down. Arsonist not found." The other newspaper clip was dated to only a week after the first clipping was dated; "Old person found dead in Citiesville motel due to suicide." Buttercup viewed both articles every morning with a sigh at the memories, knowing that the suicide news related directly to Francis.

Buttercup had a bag packed nearby that had various items prepared within it for a camping trip. She picked up the bag and threw it on her back. She then made her way downstairs, where her sisters were doing the usual enjoying breakfast. "Oh morning, Buttercup. Where are you going? We don't have school today," Blossom asked, noticing the bag on her back. Normally Buttercup slept in on days when they were free. "I'm going camping. I'll see you tomorrow," Buttercup answered. Bubbles gave her a small wave, watching Buttercup fly out the door, leaving a green trail of light, the same that she always had forming behind her.

In Citiesville, Butch was watching television on the couch. So far, everything had been as normal as he expected after he had returned from the contest. Throughout the year, his brothers had went to three different mansions to try and get treasure. All were just wastes of time, but he did enjoy when they first started looking like idiots. A knocking sound came from the door. "Hey Butch, it's the puff," Boomer called out. Butch got up from the couch, going to the door and grabbing a bag of equipment along the way. "I'm gonna go hang out with her. See ya," Butch bid him farewell before heading outside. Brick and Boomer knew about his relationship with Buttercup so far, but her sisters didn't. Buttercup had no intention on sharing it yet.

"Hey. You ready to go?" Buttercup questioned. "Yeah, a fun little camping trip…" Butch responded unenthusiastically. The two had taken up camping as a fun hobby to help get over the trauma they had went through back at the now lost mansion. The two of them flew off to the sky, leaving green streaks of light in their wake, though Butch didn't want to admit it to her that he still had nightmares and memories of when he was a monster, being able to see what he was doing without being in control of his actions. That was the worst part about that whole competition for him. He was just glad to know that it was over. Mr Francis was dead, and the two were the only ones who knew about what happened in those forests, and they had no intentions of reliving them. Not now, not ever.

End of Epilogue

**Authors notes: Thank you all for reading! **

**Proofreaded by: The-irish-clover of deviantart!**

**Story cover by: Pk-majyyks of deviantart!**


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